Receive the latest entertainment-news updates in your inbox

Actor Laurence Fishburne and Bharathakala Dance Academy attend UNICEF's Evening For Children First at The Foundry At Puritan Mill on March 17, 2017 in Atlanta, Georgia.

After 21 years as a UNICEF Global Ambassador, Laurence Fishburne received the Global Philanthropist Award from UNICEF USA this spring.

The “Black-ish” actor has taken several mission trips through Africa, where he met child soldiers and refugees while promoting awareness about regional issues. He told NBCBLK that during his career, he garnered enough recognition to “put me in a position to speak out about things that mattered to me."

"Acting and philanthropy are braided together," Fishburne said. "I've tried to seek out things that speak not just specifically to the community that created me, but that speak in a way that's universal and all of humanity celebrates."

Caryl Stern, UNICEF's president and CEO of its U.S. Fund, called Fishburne "a man who is truly committed and passionate about equity issues for children."